Jackson not ready for state's No. 2 office

E. W. Jackson gestures during his acceptance speech for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor GOP convention May 18.

Bishop E.W. Jackson, Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, announced Tuesday that he is looking for a tax-free way out of Virginia's transportation woes "because that's what people want." Indeed, people have wanted such a thing for a long time. Free roads sound nice. So, too, do chocolate without calories, snow without cold, farming without rain and war without death.

It took the General Assembly years to accept that they'd have to raise taxes to pay for better roads and a Republican governor - Bob McDonnell during the 2013 session - to finally make it happen.

Sorry, Bishop Jackson, we can't always get what we want. And sometimes when we do, we're sorry we did.

Consider, for example, the Republican Party of Virginia.

Jackson received the surprise nomination last month, thanks to a fiery speech at a Republican convention packed with right-wing activists. Enough GOP powerbrokers wanted a convention - rather than a primary - to ensure the gubernatorial nomination of far-right Ken Cuccinelli. Republicans got their convention; they got their Ken Cuccinelli; and now they are stuck with an added bonus: E.W. Jackson.

Jackson adds nothing to the ticket; his extreme (even by current state GOP standards) views almost certainly hurt his party's chances in November. Does calling homosexuals "very sick people psychologically, mentally and emotionally" draw in the voters statewide? How about comparing Planned Parenthood to the Ku Klux Klan?

Or maybe these Jackson tweets from the fall of 2009 will seal the deal:

? "This 'Christian' Pres. believes homosexuality is right and the Bible is wrong. He thinks he's Pres. of Sodom & Gommorah! Or he'd like to be."

? "I do not believe Obama is the anti-Christ. But 'Christians' who follow Obama would probably follow the Anti-Christ. Are they Christians?"

Nothing in Jackson's background says he is ready for the state's No. 2 office, though his heart is, no doubt, in many right places. His ministries include a nonprofit organization aimed at helping young people avoid gangs, drugs and violence.

Unfortunately, the State Corporation Commission had to close it down in 2012 after it failed to pay state fees for three years.

Jackson's financial problems date back three decades. Just last year, the City of Chesapeake had to sue him to collect back taxes.

This is the candidate Republican conventioneers want as the tie-breaking vote in the Senate. A Christine O'Donnell for the Commonwealth.

In losing her election to the U.S. Senate in 2010, Christine O'Donnell gave the Democrats a seat the Republicans could have won.

In nominating Cuccinelli and Jackson, Virginia Republicans have perhaps done the same - gifted the state's top two offices to their opponents.

Come November, Jackson and all of us will see if "that's what people want."